Today’s edition of quick hits. <\/p>\n
* Stay safe, Floridians<\/a>: “The center of Tropical Storm Fay passed over Key West on Monday afternoon <\/p>\n , the National Hurricane Center said. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or damage. Authorities said there was some localized flooding and power lines were down in some areas. Hurricane forecasters said the storm was expected to strengthen into possibly a Category 1 hurricane before hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast sometime Tuesday.”<\/p>\n * Maybe it’s a very, very slow withdrawal<\/a>: “The deputy head of the Russian military’s general staff <\/p>\n Compra Zitromax Online<\/a><\/p>\n , Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, told reporters in Moscow earlier on Monday that Russian troops were being drawn back to the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which sits just on the other side of the Georgia-Russia border. But McClatchy journalists in both western and central Georgia saw little sign that was happening. As has been the case during the 10-day conflict, the Russians seemed intent on showing they controlled the ground.”<\/p>\n * I’m not quite sure how someone accidentally files a lawsuit<\/a>: “An old lawsuit on record at the city courthouse reveals a moment of friction between John McCain’s mother and his ex-wife. Years later, McCain and his former wife presented a united front in a lawsuit of their own. McCain, the Republican candidate for president, calls the first lawsuit a mistake and says he never authorized the second. Both legal actions were settled out of court before they went to trial.”<\/p>\n * Reporters seem to be actively pushing the notion that we’ll learn about the presidential candidates’ running mates soon<\/a>. Well, yes, we will. It’s a rather obvious point, isn’t it?<\/p>\n * Brave New Films takes a closer look<\/a> at McCain’s many homes.<\/p>\n * Steve M. takes a closer look at McCain’s “dirt in the cross” story <\/p>\n , and finds another reason<\/a> that McCain’s version of events may not be accurate. * The Obama campaign went after McCain for the scheduled Ralph Reed fundraiser<\/a> in Georgia: “It’s clear that Senator McCain is willing to do whatever it takes to win — even if that means embracing President Bush’s policies , his tactics, and now his disgraced fundraisers.”<\/p>\n * Oh hell, Harry and Louise are back<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Two years ago today, then-Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) used the word “macaca<\/a>.”<\/p>\n * Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is all for ethics measures, just so long as they don’t apply to him directly<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Michael Tomasky’s blog<\/a> is up and running over at The Guardian.<\/p>\n * It may rile up the far-right base, but the McCain campaign picking a fight<\/a> with NBC News is mind-numbingly foolish.<\/p>\n
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\n* I continue to think this<\/a> should be a bigger deal: “Randy Scheunemann, John McCain’s top foreign policy aide, has lobbied for Georgia ($780,000 in lobbying fees!), Romania, Latvia, Macedonia, and Taiwan. In other words, he’s lobbied for a variety of foreign governments. McCain’s response? He’s ‘proud’ of Scheunemann’s paid lobbying work for foreign governments. Country first indeed.”<\/p>\n